


Deuce of Clubs 2: Can City Investigation Team

by aeris7dragon



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Deuce of Clubs, F/F, F/M, Homestuck - Freeform, M/M, Ninth Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-09-21
Updated: 2011-11-18
Packaged: 2017-10-23 22:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/255615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeris7dragon/pseuds/aeris7dragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Characters from an Amateur Manga Team Up with Characters from Someone Else's Fanfiction/AU and Solve a Mysterious Mystery While Rescuing an Abducted Halfbreed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've only got the concept and the prologue and the cover page done thus far, but that's generally how I go about things. I'll update as frequently as I can. ^^ The first Deuce of Clubs was a fanfic from this site by a_stands_for.
> 
> (If you wanna see the cover, here 'tis: http://aeris7dragon.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4adntq)

Prologue

[   
](http://s1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/aeris_7dragon/?action=view&current=Cover1.png)

Kenn was on her customary midnight stroll through the streets of Can City when her spine tingled, and she checked the katana in her strife specibus semi-consciously as she looked around warily. Growing up in a none-too-friendly area of the the metropolis had taught the human to always trust her instincts, even in a place that seemed this safe.

Across the wide street was a large building she recognized, clearly marked "Harley Research" in large, bold letters on a sign at the front of the property. It was a well-known facility, where the learned doctor and vice-mayor Jade Harley had recently developed something called "ectobiology". Kenn and her matesprit, Raiden, had been inside more than once, because this new science had provided a solution to a problem they, like other troll-and-human couples, had: inability to produce their own young.

But of course, like with all things, there was a fair bit of controversy to this childbearing alternative; especially stressed by a rising conglamorate known as Trolls for Traditional Families, or TFTF, who resented the idea of half-human, half-troll hybrids; and they were the kind of extremists Kenn wouldn't mind the abrupt and agonizing destruction of.

Kenn's spine tingled again as she spotted a large white van in the parking lot beside the building, and mentally took note of the license plate number instinctively. _BL-207_ , she repeated in her mind, over and over, memorizing it before she looked away to devote her attention to the front doors. Why were the lights on, this late at night? They weren't usually; Doctor Harley was usually in bed at around nine-ish.

She'd already gotten halfway across the street to investigate when the glass double-doors opened ad three men exited the building and rushed for the van, one of them carrying a limp figure - maybe a large doll, or a small child? - slung over his shoulder. They piled into the vehicle and sped away, too fast for the amount of rainfall there had been that evening.

"Huh." Kenn let her breath out in a huff, and she realized she'd been holding it in since she'd seen the men - seeing anyone of the opposite sex after dark still made her heart bounce a little harder than usual. "The hell was that?" she asked the empty, still-muggy air.

She finished crossing the street and swung a door open, and immediately her spine went past "tingle" and made a full-on shudder. She knew it was past the facility's closing time, but something told her that her unease had little to do with the fact that she was trespassing.

"Doctor Harley?" she called tentatively.

No answer. Accompanying the cold chill still running through her spine was the sensation of the hair on her back prickling up to stand on end. She hurried through the large entryway.

Kenn approached the open door at the far right of the large room hesitantly; she was well aware of the fact that she was somewhere she shouldn't be, and she'd probably be in deep shit if the vice-mayor decided to press charges. However, these thoughts disintegrated into dust when she heard something in the room beyond. Something that sounded suspiciously like a person groaning.

"Doctor Harley?" Kenn repeated. "Is that you?" She entered the room with decidedly less reluctance than before, and caught sight of something on the other side of the single bed in the room. It was a foot. Kenn rushed forward and crouched at the side of the half-conscious woman, turning her over to lay on her back.

Ah, shit. "What happened, Doctor?!" But Kenn already knew; it must have been the men she'd just seen fleeing the scene. The girl was already fumbling her phone out of her pocket, cursing vehemently when she saw it had turned itself off again. Lousy goddamn stupid half-broken Samsung... "Hold on," she said aloud, switching the phone back on and waiting for it to sluggishly warm up. "I'm calling an ambulance as soon as I get this piece of shit to work."

"No, hissed the woman suddenly, reaching up to grip Kenn's wrist. "Call John first."

Kenn was surprised by this sudden movement from the injured doctor, but hid her startlement quickly. She made an educated guess as to whom Doctor Harley meant. "Detective John Egbert" she asked, recalling various news articles that had mentioned them. But the doctor had already lapsed from consciousness. "Shit." _I hate talking on the phone,_ she thought.

She dialed the number for Problem Sleuth's office, having memorized it in case she needed the number, eyeing Doctor Harley nervously as she waited with bated breath for the answering machine to pick up. After all, it was nearly one in the morning; no one would be working this late, unless there was a troll working there. She'd just leave them a message after the -

"Problem Sleuth's office, Detective Vantas speaking."

Shiiiiit. "Hi, can I, erm, talk to Detective Egghead - Egbert - is he ava-available?" she stuttered. God, this is why she hated talking on the phone. "Uh...I'm with Doctor Harley and stuff, she's, like, h-hurt...Oh, and there was a van, I think they took something or someone or something...ARGH."

Yeah, talking on the phone was definitely Kenn's one bane.


	2. A First Impression

Chapter 1

John hung up the phone, a somber look on his tired face. "We have to go to Jade's," he said

simply.

 

Karkat nodded; the teenager's voice had been easy to pick up across the room even through a

phone that had been taken apart on numerous occasions, and the voice that had carried through

the air to his ears was high-pitched and loud with anxiety. She didn't seem to be the type to

take crises well.

 

The two filed out the office door; barely noticing the paper, bearing the initials P.S.,

fluttering to the ground for the umpteenth time. They couldn't say exactly why they'd opted to

stay so late, as there were no pressing cases for their office lately, but stay they had, and it

had obviously turned out to be a good thing they had.

 

The flashing lights of the ambulance as their taxi approached the research facility alerted them

that Ms. Walker had called the ambulance after getting off the phone with John. The teenager in

question was standing to the side as the paramedics loaded a stretcher, Jade strapped to it,

into the ambulance. Ms. Walker's face bore none of the stress that had laced her voice, only

concern for the one on the stretcher. That was the first thing John noticed. The second was was

her pose; arms crossed over her chest, legs slightly apart to stand strongly on both feet rather

than shifting from one foot to the other. Overall, her stance was meant to be casually defensive,

but John could see the tense line her shoulders made, the slight anxiety behind her every move,

that showed when her eyes flickered to nervously regard anyone who crossed into her peripheral

vision.

 

She was both aggressive and high-strung at once. She concealed the latter well, but not from

trained eyes like John's.

[   
](http://s1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/aeris_7dragon/?action=view&current=Ken.png)

As Karkat went over to have a word with the EMTs, John approached the girl. She had already seen

him coming and turned to face him, but her eyes betrayed a hint of anxiety as he got closer.

"Ms. Walker?" he asked, and when he was close enough he caught a blue sheen reflected off her

hair, which smelled from here of chemicals. She'd dyed it recently.

 

"Yeah," she answered, taking his offered hand and shaking it firmly but briefly. Her hands wew

soft despite the calluses she'd gotten from years of swordplay, the same calluses Dave had. At

that moment John knew exactly who he was talking to, and everything he'd observed about her

suddenly made a lot more sense.

 

"Kenn Walker. You were in the news recently, weren't you?"

 

He knew he was right before she opened her mouth to answer; her pose grew decidedly more closed

and her brow furrowed a bit. "Y-yeah," she stammered.

 

He was stepping into uncomfortable territory for her, he realized, so he backed off a bit.

Besides, he wasn't here to talk about her. "So, Ms. Walker. Was there a reason you called me

first, and the ambulance later?"

 

She welcomed the subject change; her posture opened a bit. "She asked me to. Well, told me,

really. I told her I was gonna call an ambulance and she was like, 'No, call John first'. I just

kinda guessed she meant you, though."

 

Karkat approached as the paramedics closed the door of the ambulance, and the vehicle's sirens

came on as it sped from the scene. "She's fine," the troll said when the noise had gotten far

enough away for them to hear each other again. "A little head trauma, but nothing too serious.

They'll keep her at the hospital tonight, just to make sure."

 

"Okay," John nodded. "How did it happen?" he asked, turning to Kenn again.

 

She explained it all from the beginning, from her first spine-tingle that night to dialing the

number for the detectives' office, even explaining about her neurosis of speaking on the phone.

John nodded when shed finished, a thought suddenly crossing his mind. "The thing the men were

carrying. Did it look like a child, perhaps with horns and a pair of wings?" He'd noticed Rufio

had yet to appear this evening.

 

Karkat started, then jogged into the building, no doubt thinking the same thing.

 

Kenn contemplated John's question a moment, thinking back. "Yeah, I think so. Thought it was

kinda odd, actually." Her bright green eyes widened. "Doesn't Doctor Harley have a son?"

 

"Yes, she does," John answered, drawing his phone out of his pocket to dial the police. "What

was that license number, again? And you said it was a large, white van?"

 

"Yeah. It was BL-507," she replied, checking her own mobile as it vibrated silently in her

pocket, and she tapped out a quick reply to the sender as John spoke briefly to the police on

the other end. As he hung up, he saw his matesprit running up to them. Kenn jumped as the troll

approached, then relaxed, sliding her phone back into her pocket.

 

"Rufio's not in there," Karkat said breathlessly. "Whoever hurt Jade might've taken him."

 

"Lousy fucking extremists," Kenn muttered.

 

Two pairs of eyes, one blue and the other gold-orange, glanced at her. "Why do you say that?"

Karkat asked.

 

"Because they might've been the ones who did it."

 

"But what if they weren't?"

 

"They're still lousy." Kenn's eyes narrowed angrily. "I've had bad experiences with them."

 

"No doubt concerning your matespritship?" John said.

 

She looked up at him, obviously confused as to how he'd known she had a matesprit. "Yeah."

 

"You're aware that hating extremists is in itself a bit extreme?"

 

"The irony isn't lost on me." The corners of her mouth twisted upward into a small smile. John

chose this moment to change the subject again.

 

"Tell me, Ms. Walker," he said, "what a recent rape victim is doing out for a stroll in the

middle of the night?"

 

Kenn's smile vanished abruptly and completely, and she took a small step backward. "It didn't

happen at night. I feel safer walking at night," she said in a small voice. "It calms me down."

 

Karkat put a hand on John's shoulder and squeezed it lightly, and John realized he'd overstepped

another boundary. He sighed.

 

"Ms. Walker, could you give me your number?" he asked. "Just in case we have any further

questions."

 

"Sure," Kenn replied, tone indifferent, yet she retained her distance. "But before I do, I need

to let you know something."

 

"What is it?"

 

Her eyes narrowed again, but this time in feral eagerness rather than anger, and her lips

twisted into a grin to match. _God, she's just like Nepeta,_ John thought.

 

"Something tells me you will need me again, but not to answer some dumb, boring questions.

You'll need me for the muscle. So, feel free to call me or text me or whatever when that

happens."

 

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm sure Detective Vantas and I can handle the legwork."

 

She shrugged. "Not talking about the legwork, but whatever. I was just putting that out there,

for future reference. In case anyone was interested." She took a pen and a small notebook out of

her sylladex, writing down a six-digit number under her name. She tore the page from the tiny

pad and handed it to him. "Here ya go. I must warn you, my phone's a royal POS, but it can

handle texts and calls all right. Most of the time. Just don't try sending me any pictures. Is

that all you needed me for? My matesprit's waiting for me."

 

"Yes, that's all," John said. "Thank you for calling me, Ms. Walker."

 

"'Kay, dude, when you say my last name you're talking to my family. Call me Kenn, that way

you're talking to me."

 

"Kenn," he amended. "Perhaps we'll talk later, then."

 

"Yup, see ya. Oh, by the way..." She glanced at Karkat and back, giving the other human a

conspicuous wink. "Nice catch."

 

She laughed as Karkat facepalmed, his face turning a slight red. She turned away, calling, "Let

me know what hospital room Doctor Harley's in, 'kay?" over her shoulder as she headed in the

direction John figured her apartment would be.

 

"What do you make of her?" he asked, turning to the troll.

 

"She seems honest enough, and I wouldn't guess her to be a bad person, but..." Golden eyes

watched the girl as she strolled briskly down the street with her hands in her pockets. "I mean,

you said it yourself. What kind of rape victim goes for a walk at midnight two weeks after it

happened?"

 

"One in the morning," John corrected him. "And I would guess the stupid kind, but she seemed

intelligent enough to me." John sighed for the second time that night. "We should probably head

to the hospital."

 

Karkat put an arm around John's shoulders and held him for a moment. "She'll be all right,

John," he said, talking about Jade.

 

"I hope so," John replied.


	3. Chapter 3: UNFINISHED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, seriously, this isn't finished yet. I just figured I'd post what I have thus far before going to bed tonight. I don't even have an illustration for it yet. :/
> 
> (My dA is here: http://aeris7dragon.deviantart.com/)
> 
> Oh, and pardon any typos. It's 2:30 AM here in Utah and I should've been in bed half an hour ago after getting six hours of sleep last night.

Raiden noticed something was up the minute he heard the key scratching against the lock. And when Kenn entered, a little shakier than usual, his hunch was all but confirmed. He got up from his husktop - he was just checking some retarded web comic site, anyway - and went to his matesprit's side.

Though being underage, Kenn had... "moved out" of her uncle's home over three months ago on account of a rather aggressive argument with the man, who became her guardian when her single mother died giving birth. The night she ran from home was the night she an Raiden had met, and he'd offered her a spot on his couch.

That "spot" had eventually migrated from the couch to his bed, but that was beside the point.

"What's wrong?" he asled as he felt her arms go around him and tighten around his waist.

"Nothing," she muttered, her voice muffled further by the fact that her face was pressed into the front of his shirt.

He sighed and wrapped his own arms around her. "Nothing", indeed. That was what she slways said. She didn't want to worry him. Try as she might, though, she always did. And he loved that about her.

Actually, he pitied her for it. But it was all the same to her, as she said frequently.

"Kenn," he said. "I know you're lying."

She growled into his shirt. "Fine. I had to talk to the cops."

"What?" He pulled away slightly, searching her light green eyes as she looked up. "What about?"

She explained what happened, for the second - felt like twentieth - time that night, and after she'd told the story, there was a pause as Raiden thought. He saw something in her eyes when she told him how she'd found the doctor. A hint of anger.

"No."

She blinked. "No?"

"You're going to try and wreak vengeance or something on thyose guys. Don't." He tried to look as stern as he could, but that wasn't a facial expression he was used to, so it fell a bit flat. "Kenn, you don't need to keep being the hero of justice. That's for the legislacerators to deal with."

She snorted, pulling her arms from aroung his waist. "Yeah, right. Too late, anyway, Rai. I already gave the detectives my number." Yanking her sylladex out of her pocket, she threw it on the computer desk and kicked her shoes off, pointedly ignoring Raiden's expression of exasperation. "I'm going to bed," she announced. "You joining me?"

"In a minute, I'm checking something."

She glanced at the window open on the husktop's screen, and rolled her eyes. "That Strider guy's retarded webcom again? Seriously?"

"Yes."

She rolled her eyes again at his beam of defiance, and ducked into their cave of a respiteblock.

About five minutes after collapsing in an exhausted heap into the recuperabed they'd shared the bill for, she woke up with his arms around her, and despite herself felt safe. In all honesty, she never would have gotten through half of what she had without him. She knew he was just worried about her when he forbade her from these things, didn't want to see her get hurt.

Again.

Like the last time.

She pushed these last thoughts from her mind and scooted closer to him, falling asleep again in his warm embrace.

*

Raiden woke to the sound of Kenn's phone ringing to the tune of the Final Fantasy victory fanfare. A moment later there was the click of a flip phone opening and a tired-sounding, "Hello?"

He was about to fall asleep again when Kenn began to sound less lethargic. "Oh, Detective Vantas? 'Sup?"

He looked up at her as she sat upright, realizing who it was. His sharp ears picked up a blunt-sounding, kind of ornery voice, the voice of a troll. "We'll need you to come down to the station. There's someone here who's apparently been looking for you."

She paused. "Who is it?"

Her eyes grew wide when the name was relayed, and she met Raiden's suddenly angry glare. He had heard, too.

"Can you tell that jackass of an uncle," she growled into the receiver, "that I want nothing more to do with him and he can go fuck the hole in the ozone layer."

Raiden stifled a chuckle as Kenn slapped the phone closed, and he glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. "Ten AM. We should probably get up."

"In a sec. I'm texting him back."

"...Why?"

"It's not his fault my uncle's a dickface, he's a pretty cool guy. I'm apologizing."

Raiden gaped at her, askance.

"To the detective, not the other guy."

"Oh." Raiden stretched and sat up, and was about to get out of bed when something tugged at his horn. Kenn turned his head, her hand on his lightning-bolt horn, and leaned up, pressing her lips against his. She relaxed her grip.

"Love you," she said.

He smiled, staring into her eyes. "I pity you, too."

They both laughed.

\--UNFINISHED I WILL UPDATE WHEN I HAVE MORE--


End file.
